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<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-1 wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#221717;font-size:14px"><strong>Ron Acosta, founder of beloved Tex-Mex chain Las Palapas was allegedly stabbed to death by his troubled nephew inside his San Antonio home</strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-2 wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#221717;font-size:14px"><strong>*Edward &#8216;Ron&#8217; Acosta, 78, reportedly was killed on Tuesday morning after an argument with his 39-year-old nephew, David Ruiz who has now been charged with murder </strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-3 wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#221717;font-size:14px"><strong>Acosta was found bloodied in the garage of his gated-community home by his housekeeper, who frantically dialed 911 immediately </strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-4 wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#221717;font-size:14px"><strong>Interviewed by investigators, the housekeeper recalled the victim&#8217;s chilling screams as he pleaded for his life &#8211; &#8216;No, David! No, David!&#8217; </strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-5 wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#221717;font-size:14px"><strong>Father of three, <strong>Jams Ruiz, 39,</strong> who worked at a foster care facility for troubled children, lives in California and had little or no contact with the elderly relative he traveled across the country to kill </strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-6 wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#221717;font-size:14px"><strong>Suspect allegedly, was displaying alarming behavior in the days leading up to the murder his father said his son&#8217;s mental health had been spiraling out of control </strong></p>



<p class="has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-7 wp-block-paragraph" style="color:#221717;font-size:14px"><strong>Ruiz fled the scene, but was captured 100 miles away hours later and charged with murder</strong></p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Edward-Ron-Acosta-2.png" alt="" class="wp-image-481375" style="width:818px;height:auto"/></figure>



<p class="has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph"><strong>The founder of Tex-Mex restaurant chain Las Palapas, Edward &#8216;Ron&#8217; Acosta, [photo], 78, was found slaughtered on Tuesday morning by his housekeeper </strong></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The beloved founder of the Las Palapas restaurant chain, Edward “Ron” Acosta, was allegedly stabbed to death by his troubled nephew inside his San Antonio home. <br>Acosta, 78, was slaughtered on Tuesday morning after an argument with his nephew, David Ruiz, 39. <br>A family member, has been <a href="https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/las-palapas-owner-edward-ron-acosta-kill-nephew-20408718.php" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a> as saying that the man accused of the murder of his 78-year-old relative on Tuesday was suffering a mental health crisis at the time of the attack.<br>Jams Ruiz, a 39-year-old father of three who worked at a foster care facility for troubled children, lives in California and had little or no contact with the elderly relative he traveled across the country to kill inside the victim&#8217;s home in Texas. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/David-Ruiz-1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-481372" style="width:836px;height:auto"/></figure>



<p class="has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Acosta&#8217;s nephew, David Ruiz, [photo], 39, has been charged with the murder of his uncle, with whom he had no prior contact, according to his father. James Ruiz also claims his son was suffering mental health crises at the time </strong></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Police on Wednesday <a href="https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2025/07/02/what-we-know-about-the-murder-of-las-palapas-founder-in-north-side-neighborhood/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">confirmed</a> that David Ruiz is in custody for the homicide of Acosta, his uncle.<br>The high-profile restaurateur was found bloodied in the garage of his gated-community home by his housekeeper, around 11 a.m. Tuesday and frantically dialed 911 upon making the gory discovery, telling dispatchers there was “blood all around” the victim. <br>Interviewed by investigators, the housekeeper recounts hearing the victim&#8217;s chilling screams of &#8216;No, David! No, David!&#8217; as he pled for his life.<br>The police report states that Acosta was stabbed multiple times and &#8216;bled out while lying in the garage.&#8217;<br>When cops arrived the suspect had fled the scene. He was captured by police a few hours later in Kimble County, about 100 miles northwest of San Antonio and charged with murder. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Police-at-the-home-of-Edward-Ron-Acosta-1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-481369" style="width:840px;height:auto"/></figure>



<p class="has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Acosta was found bloodied Tuesday, in the garage of his gated-community home [photo], by his housekeeper, who frantically dialed 911. Ruiz fled the scene but was captured by police a few hours later in Kimble County, northwest of San Antonio</strong></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The alleged killer was displaying alarming behavior in the days leading up to the shocking murder, his father revealed to the <a href="https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/las-palapas-owner-edward-ron-acosta-kill-nephew-20408718.php" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">San Antonio Express-News</a>. <br>James Ruiz, 78, of Whittier, California, claimed his son&#8217;s mental health had been spiraling out of control.<br>He was worried Ruiz, also of Whittier, was going to hurt himself. <br>&#8216;I thought I was going to lose him to suicide,&#8217; James sorrowfully confessed to the outlet. <br>&#8216;I never thought he’d hurt someone else &#8211; especially not Ronnie. He just completely snapped.&#8217; <br>James also said he had a deadbolt installed on his bedroom door to protect himself from his erratic son. <br>&#8216;I decided, for my own safety, I’d lock myself in my bedroom.&#8217; <br>James Ruiz, believes his son was smoking meth, adding to his rapidly declining mental state at the time his brother-in-law was killed. <br>The younger Ruiz left California on Sunday, announcing that he was visiting his cousin &#8211; Acosta&#8217;s son Aaron and his brother Steven, who resides with Aaron.<br>David who had not slept for four days as reported, was hallucinating, becoming terrifyingly paranoid in the belief that people were trying to hurt him. He also told his girlfriend that his father, James Ruiz died, prompting her to start to worry about his well-being. <br>On his way to San Antonio, he allegedly asked Aaron to buy him a gun, a request the concerned cousin refused. </p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Las-Palapas-restaurant-chain-2.png" alt="" class="wp-image-481384" style="width:837px;height:auto"/></figure>



<p class="has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Acosta founded the Tex-Mex chain Las Palapas, which has <strong>24 </strong>locations in the San Antonio area, before selling majority holdings in 2020 </strong></p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">While Ruiz was still on the run, police contacted James Ruiz and told him to notify them should his son return to their California home. The father then texted his son, urging him to turn himself into the police for the murder of his uncle. <br>When confronted with the accusation, Ruiz replied his father by text, simply stating: &#8216;Oh, you&#8217;re crazy.&#8217; <br>Before this alarming episode, Ruiz had never been violent. The family is now grappling with the fact that Ruiz allegedly went after his uncle, with whom he previously &#8216;had no contact with.&#8217; <br>Acosta moved from Los Angeles to San Antonio more than 40 years ago, founding his Texas-based restaurant empire in 1981, which now has more than 24 locations throughout the San Antonio area.<br>Ruiz is jailed in Kimble County, but will be transferred to the Bexar County Jail.</p>

David Ruiz, 39, was suffering mental health crisis, been smoking meth, when he fatally stabbed his uncle, founder of Tex-Mex chain Las Palapas founder Ron Acosta, 78 – family
